Certain embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to geotracking and in particular to systems and methods for biased task assignments based on geotracking of discharge vehicles.
According to conventional practices, when special needs transportation must be coordinated, staff members of an originating special needs facility, of a destination special needs facility, and of transportation companies typically coordinate the transportation via a series of telephone calls. For example, the special needs transportation may correspond to transporting a patient by ambulance between hospitals and/or other medical facilities. In some cases, a transfer center may also be involved to act as a middleman between several transportation companies and the special needs facilities.
To request a transfer, a first staff member of a first special needs facility relays a request for transportation to one or more other parties by telephone. The first staff member must communicate all the details of the need, such as details of a person to be transported, a pickup location, a pickup time, a destination, special circumstances, account details, policy details, etc. One or more other staff members (of a transfer center, a transportation company, or a destination facility) typically type the received information, entering the information into a system that is separate from any system of the first special needs facility. In some cases, where medical facility personnel call transportations companies directly, sometimes several ambulance companies must be contacted to coordinate a transfer and/or to reap the benefits of competition. In the case of transfer center involvement, transfer center staff then telephones a transportation company and further relays the information about the transfer. Thus, multiple telephone calls and multiple conversations, at a minimum, are required for the for the setup of the transfer.
After setup of the transfer, coordination often ends. The medical facilities are ignorant of any statuses of the transport vehicle, of ETAs (estimated times of arrival), of whether the transport vehicle is on-time, early or late, of whether there are any plan changes, etc., unless a staff member picks up the telephone again and calls the transfer center, the transport vehicle, or the transportation company. Even then, one more additional phone calls or radio communications may be necessary to gather a modicum of current information.
Thus, the communications throughout the process are in large part by word-of-mouth. Moreover, in order to determine options and coordinate logistics that take into account different needs, different availabilities, different capabilities, and difference performances, an expert is necessary to make judgment calls and attempt to somewhat shepherd the transfer. As a consequence of all these factors, the conventional practices are error-prone, knowledge-deficient, time-consuming, and inefficient.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods for biased task assignments based on geotracking of discharge vehicles. This and other needs are addressed by the present disclosure.